Bertelsmann supports the United Nations Global Compact

Bertelsmann has been a member of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact since October 2008. The initiative was called into being in 2000 by Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations.

It calls on companies around the world to implement ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and corruption within their spheres of influence. Bertelsmann is one of over 7,000 companies and organizations in more than 130 nations that have joined the worldwide initiative to date.

A commitment to 10 principles of responsible conduct

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Bertelsmann’s former Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski vowed, on Bertelsmann’s behalf, to comply with the ten core principles of responsible business:

“Corporate responsibility has traditionally been an important element in our corporate culture – towards our employees and the environment, and within our business and social community. As an international media company, we embrace and uphold this responsibility in the more than 50 countries where we have operations. The principles of the United Nations Global Compact stand for socially and ecologically sustainable business in a globalized world. So it is a matter of course for us to acknowledge and support these principles,” Ostrowski explained.
One important contribution in this context is the formulation of our Code of Conduct, which went into force at the end of October 2008.